Frank Lloyd Wright: A Genius For All Time

By Erik Skindrud

Frank Lloyd Wright designed Buffalo, NY's Blue Sky Mausoleum back in the late 1920s, but the structure wasn't built until 2004. It debuted in October, when a total of 24 crypts were available for sale to the public.

A dramatic staircase of white granite on a turf-clad hill is the most recent Frank Lloyd Wright structure built-close to three-quarters of a century after the master architect created the plan.

The Blue-Sky Mausoleum opened in October at Buffalo, NY's Forest Lawn Cemetery, where it was intended to go in the late 1920s. The stark, monumental structure was commissioned by Darwin D. Martin, one of Wright's most important clients and patrons. Unfortunately, the economic crash of 1929 and the subsequent collapse of Martin's fortune put the project on indefinite hold.

Martin intended the mausoleum to be his own. Space considerations, not to mention economics, meant that the structure could not be placed in the Martin family plot today, but it was constructed near to its intended location.

Wright and Martin had a long history. Then unknown, the architect's first work for the millionaire businessman was a residential complex Wright designed in 1904, when he was 38 years old.

Wright would later design a headquarters for the Larkin Soap Company (a commission Martin secured) and a home called Greycliffe for the Martin family.

By 1929, Martin's fortune was estimated at two to three million dollars. When he died in 1935, his entire estate totaled 37 cents-in addition to property holdings. Upon learning of his death, Wright wrote, ?EUR??,,????'??Today my best friend has died.?EUR??,,????'??

Wright's mausoleum fit perfectly with his design philosophy, which sought to ?EUR??,,????'??break the mold?EUR??,,????'?? and overcome what he called the ?EUR??,,????'??Realtor's curse.?EUR??,,????'??

?EUR??,,????'??The citizen alive gets a lot two by twice in some long row,?EUR??,,????'?? he wrote. ?EUR??,,????'??And dead, he gets another-as long as he is tall and as wide as he is long-when he moves down and out. Or is moved out and down.?EUR??,,????'??

While it is the newest, the mausoleum is not the only unbuilt Wright design being built. In Buffalo alone, a Wright-designed gas station (1927) and boathouse (1905) are under construction and will open in 2005.

Wright designs-and many remain unbuilt-are controlled by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and strict licensing regulates their use. Architects and others can learn more at www.franklloydwright.org.

Meanwhile, Blue-Sky Mausoleum is complete, open for business and looking for clients. Anyone interested in becoming part of the project (literally) can visit the web site www.blueskymausoleum.com, which offers prospective customers the following pitch.

?EUR??,,????'??Whatever your intent, your purchase of a crypt at Blue-Sky Mausoleum ensures that your name will be joined forever with the legacy of Frank Lloyd Wright, a cultural icon widely proclaimed as the greatest American architect of all time.?EUR??,,????'??

A total of 24 crypts were available when the project was finished.